jquery: How do I use click event to modify an element, then different click event to modify the original element?

I'm very new at javascripting and jquery but I've got the basics down. I need help with using jquery click functions to modify elements. I am using a jquery plugin (dataTables) to create a sortable table. That part was easy. The table is initially hidden, and I want the user to be able to click on one of the links on my page to display a filtered version of the table. Ex: click on link #1 - display table filtered for keyword#1, click on link #2 - display table filtered for keyword#2, etc.

I was able to accomplish this using jquery click events, but I found that after the filtered table displays, if one of the headers is clicked to sort on a column, then the entire original table comes back. I couldn't find anything in the plugin's documentation about this, so I had to find an alternative.

I was able to do the following: run the dataTables method on my original master table (with sort option: false), create (and hide) the table, onclick - filter that table on a keyword, then run the dataTables method again on the filtered table (with sort option: true), then show the table. This is probably not the right way of fixing my problem, but it does work...now this table only contains the data that I filtered on and the user can sort on headers.

Here is my real problem - when I pass the filtered table through the dataTables method again, it seems I am somehow permanently attaching that function/method to my filtered table. Ex - when I click on link#1, I get my table filtered for keyword#1, but if I click on link #2, I get a 'no results found'. It seems that it is trying to filter the already filtered table?

Oh how simple! I could have saved myself a few hours of tinkering if I had though of that earlier. I just had the filter as false so the search box wouldn't show, but I see that I can easily hide the search box with jquery. Thanks for your quick and easy solution!